Friday, February 22, 2008

Kevin Ayers The Unfairground Opens To Early US Rave Anticipation/ Out March 18th

The founder of British psychedelia has returned with his strongest album ever accompanied and complimented by the musicians he inspired. The Unfairground, which is full of “bright, airy, deliciously skewed melodies (Simon Cosyns, The Sun), was recorded in Tucson Arizona; Brooklyn, New York, London and Glasgow.

Receiving four stars from The Times’ Steve Jerbert, the songs on The Unfairground are described by Andy Gill of Uncut as “replete with the languid charm that has been Ayers’ stock in trade throughout his performance career; whatever the situation, Ayers amenability shines through, a wave of warmth that can lighten the heaviest soul.”

Kevin Ayers is one of rock's oddest and most likable enigmas. There are few artists who qualify more than this recluse for music’s highest accolades. He is the bridge between the psychedelia and the new sounds and sensibilities of Roxy Music, Eno and David Bowie on whom he was a primary influence. Launching Soft Machine in 1966 with Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen and Mike Ratledge, Kevin Ayers has performed as a solo artist, working with noted musicians like Syd Barrett, Brian Eno, Mike Oldfield, Elton John, Lol Coxhill, Nico, Steve Hillage and John Cale.

Nick Kent recently cited Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett as “the two most important British artists of the late sixties”, noting that “they defined and influenced how every act from Bowie to Roxy presented themselves”. Lured from his retreat in the South of France, by a battalion of admirers both old and young on this, his first album in over fifteen years, is heralded by Mike Barnes of Mojo as “a vintage harvest that stands comparison to his best work.” Kevin Ayers shines on this album and summons a new voice and honesty in the performances that stand now as the strongest he has ever committed to plastic, producing a “wave of warmth that can lighten the heaviest soul” (Uncut)

Kevin Ayers is one of the most significant and influential musicians of his generation. He has a distinctly unique sensibility, making ordinary lyrical subjects seem extraordinary with his rich low vocals, inventive wordplay, and bemused, relaxed attitude that belies the life of a poet and a bacchanalian lothario. Welcome to The Unfairground